I Got Your Weird Right Here: 100 Must-Read Strange and Unusual Novels

While we at the Riot take some time off to rest and catch up on our reading, we’re re-running some of our favorite posts from the last several months. Enjoy our highlight reel, and we’ll be back with new stuff on Monday, July 11th.

This post originally ran April 11, 2016.

I love strange and unusual novels, mostly because I, myself, am strange and unusual. (Okay, you got me – I wrote this list just so I could quote Beetlejuice.)

Seriously, though, I love weird books. So whether there’s something just a little different about the story, or the book is full-on bizarre, here are 100 wonderful books I have read and highly recommend.

Some of them are funny. Some of them are disturbing. Some of them are both of those things. And they are all amazing!

These were just the first 100 that popped into my head. I am happy to talk about more unusual books – and to learn about them! Please tell me about your favorite unusual books in the comments!

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood: In the future, for starters, people will have blue butts.

Bear vs. Shark by Chris Bachelder: A young boy wins an essay contest and gets to take his family to Las Vegas to see a bear wrestle a shark.

Alligators of Abraham by Robert Kloss: Alligators roam the world like humans during the Civil War. (I first read this when I had a fever, then read it again to be sure I hadn’t hallucinated any of it.)